World Premiere: 1878
Last HSO Performance: December 11, 2016
Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, percussion, strings, solo violin
Duration: 11 minutes 

Pablo de Sarasate

Pablo de Sarasate had already established his reputation in France, Spain, England and North and South America as one of his era’s greatest violinists before he made his debut in the German-speaking lands with a concert in Vienna in 1876. To appeal to the predilection for a certain Eastern exoticism in the German and Austrian musical appetites of the day, Sarasate devised a concert work for violin and orchestra in 1878 based on melodies of Hungarian extraction that he titled Zigeunerweisen — “Gypsy Airs.” Zigeunerweisen is disposed in two large paragraphs of contrasting nature. A bold orchestral summons based on a grave theme introduces the soloist, who continues the opening mood with an accompanied cadenza and a sad lament utilizing a gapped-scale melody of considerable pathos. Though the musical substance of this first section is simple and direct, the soloist embroiders it with a rich overlay of trills, grace notes, harmonics, glissandi, pizzicati and spiccati. After a pause, the tempo quickens and the mood brightens for the closing section, a blazing dance in the Gypsy manner.